Episode 1248: Hustle and Slow
Date July 26, 2018 Summary Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about the Zach Britton and Nathan Eovaldi trades, the Yankees’ unbelievable bullpen, the Rays’ most recent Sergio Romo experiment, and the Gary Sanchez hustle/groin-strain saga, follow up on athletes dominating lesser competition and Noah Syndergaard’s latest affliction, then answer emails about Odubel Herrera, Rhys Hoskins, how a bad fielder affects a better fielder’s positioning, and the future of specialty coaches. Lastly, they bring on comedian Jim Jefferies (57:06) to discuss the down-and-up Dodgers, being a celebrity fan, the sport’s pace of play, how he learned to love baseball after moving to the U.S., baseball vs. cricket, the use of stats in baseball and cricket, steroids, Mike Trout vs. Bryce Harper, and more. Topics * Positioning effects on defensive metrics * Specialty coaches * How are you feeling as a Dodger fan * History as a Dodger fan * Celebrity fan * Baseball pace of play * Getting into baseball * Cricket * Humor in baseball * Max Muncy * Steroids * Mike Trout v Bryce Harper * Manny Machado trade Intro * Gord Downie, "The East Wind" Interstitial * The White Stripes, "Jimmy the Exploder" Outro * Lou Reed, "Oh, Jim" Banter * Zach Britton trade * Nathan Eovaldi trade * The Ray's * Sergio Romo the third baseman * Gary Sanchez * Rec league athletes Email Questions * Mike S.: "Odubel Herrera is in the midst of his best offensive season yet (115 wRC+); that's good! However, his defensive value has absolutely cratered. After being in a top-5 defensive CF in two of the past three years, averaging roughly +6-7 runs by both UZR and DRS, Herrera has been more like a -7 defender by both UZR and DRS, with most of that damage being done via each system's range rating. Of course, this could all just be random noise, but a notable change from the first three seasons of his career has been the addition of Rhys "definitely a first baseman" Hoskins to left field. Could attempting to make up for Hoskins' shortcomings be the cause for the sharp decline in Odubel's defensive stats? I've heard this argument made before, but only anecdotally and never with any actual statistical evidence. As a Phillies fan, I've seen more than my fair share of terrible defensive left fielders over the past 15 years (Pat Burrell, the fossilized remains of Raul Ibanez, Dom Brown), but I've never seen this effect on the centerfielder." * Shaun: "I have a question that perhaps you’d answer. I’m watching the Yankees/Rays game and as a Yankee fan, I’m extremely frustrated with Aaron Boone’s pitching management. He has consistently left both starters and relievers in games when it seemed apparent that they were out of gas or had lost their “stuff”. Tonight was another example, sending Luis Severino out to pitch the 6th after laboring through 5, and it did not go well. My question is, do you see baseball ever going to a more football style approach to coaching? Having “coordinators”, one to manage the lineup and another to manage the pitching? I ask this, because it’s apparent that managers have different strengths. According to rumors, Joe Girardi was not well liked in the clubhouse, but he managed the bullpen very well in my opinion. The opposite seems to be true for Boone. What if baseball got to a place where teams accepted that different coaches were better at certain things, and had a more NFL style coaching structure? How do you think that would change team dynamics and what teams look for in coaches? Would the manager be more of an overseer of things and someone to instill culture, with the specialty coordinators handling the strategy?" Notes * This year's Yankees and Astros are the best bullpens ever in strike out minus walk rate. * The Yankees have a fangraphs projected ERA 3.32, a half run better than the second place team. * “There's a chance we can actually see Zach Britton in an AL wild card game, which is long overdue" - Ben * “Do you think Jerry DiPoto ever throws batting practice, just to see if hes still got it? Nah thats what he has Ichiro for.” * “I like the pitcher hitting part of the game” Jim said, Ben responded with “Woof”. Links https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/effectively-wild-episode-1248-hustle-and-slow/ Link to Ben’s article about Cano’s hustle Link to community manager ratings Category:Episodes Category:Guest Episodes Category:Email Episodes